FC Dallas made things incredibly difficult for themselves with a 1-1 draw Sunday night against Chivas USA. The Whitecaps are four points ahead of FCD in the standings for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with two matches left for both teams. Bottom line: a Vancouver win in either of its final two games earns them the final playoff spot in the West. Best case scenario for FCD would have Vancouver losing its final two matches - thus FCD needing only a draw and a win to get in on a tiebreaker. Still a lot to play for, but FC Dallas has little control of its playoff fate.

Vancouver snapped a seven match winless streak Wednesday night at BC Place with a 4-0 win over Chivas USA. For the moment, the Whitecaps are five points ahead of FCD in the standings for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. FCD plays Chivas USA in Los Angeles this Sunday with the chance to close the gap back to two points. Colorado, Portland and Chivas USA were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Vancouver's win on Wednesday.

FRISCO – FC Dallas has been keeping an eye on Vancouver as they chase the Whitecaps for the fifth and final playoff spot.

Tonight they will multi-task: keep tabs on the ‘Caps and scout their next opponent, Chivas USA.

Vancouver hosts Chivas USA in a Wednesday night match-up at BC Place (9 p.m. CT on MLS Live) and FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman says he and his players will be watching.

“Will they experiment with new players and give them a chance? Maybe a card. Maybe an injury. There’s a lot of things we’ll be interested in,” Hyndman said of Chivas USA.

Hyndman said FCD has already drawn up a game plan that they’ve been working on in training this week for Chivas USA, so the serious scouting has been done. But the coaching staff will be looking to see if there’s any changes or adjustments they might need to make.

The mid-week match is also a potential advantage for FC Dallas.

“Our schedule now is lightening up where we have games once a week. We’re starting to find other teams now having games twice a week.,” Hyndman said. “Chivas is playing on the road in Vancouver then they get us at home. That’s two games to be played in a short window.”

Thanks to a late goal from the Rapids' Jamie Smith, Colorado tied Vancouver 2-2 on Sunday night at BC Place. The match on Sunday was Vancouver's game-in-hand on FC Dallas and Vancouver could have built a two-match cushion in the standings. But after tonight, both FCD and Vancouver have four matches remaining with the Whitecaps just two points ahead of FCD in the standings for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.